Sue Valuers
Meade King, solicitors in Bristol, provides specialist advice on professional negligence.
Professional Negligence: no win no fee
Professional negligence claims against surveyors and other professionals have become more accessible owing to conditional fee agreements "no win no fee".
Our solicitors assess your professional negligence claim before entering into a "no win no fee" agreement. Our solicitors provide a free half hour initial appraisal of a professional negligence case. We have succeeded in professional negligence claims against surveyors, valuers, estate agents, engineers, brokers, architects, solicitors, accountants and surveyors. Our solicitors deal with a majority of professional negligence cases by conditional fee agreements "no win no fee". Our clients come from all over the country and abroad.
What is professional negligence?
Professional negligence claims may not arise from every mistake made by a professional (e.g. valuers, estate agents, engineers, brokers, architects, solicitors, accountants). The broad test to be applied is whether the mistake is one which no reasonably competent professional should have made and whether it has caused the client any financial disadvantage.ably competent professional should have made and whether it has caused the client any financial disadvantage.
Professional negligence: The tests
In broad terms, using a claim against a surveyor as an example, for a claimant in professional negligence to succeed, he or she has to establish: -
- Existence of a duty on the part of the valuer or estate agent. That can arise on the basis of the terms of engagement or of a report or certificate provided for a bank or building society but also relied on by others.
- Breach of duty by the valuer or estate agent.
- Exclusion of liability provisions.
- Existence of a loss.
- Causation; that breach of duty by the valuer or estate agent has caused the loss.
Specialist advice on professional negligence
No win no fee arrangements are usually entered into after one of our solicitors has provided essential experienced guidance on the: -
- Existence of a duty of care.
- Scope of that duty.
- Quality of the advice that is given by the valuer or estate agent
- Issue of causation; did the breach cause the loss?
- Duty to minimise losses.
- Likely amount of compensation.
A professional negligence claim (whether the claim is against a valuer or estate agent, an accountant or a solicitor) will inevitably be defended by an experienced insurer or solicitor. Three members of our team have previously worked on behalf of insurers and are aware of how to get the best out of claims. Our Bristol based solicitors provide essential high quality and effective representation in professional negligence claims.
At Meade King Solicitors we will: -
- Identify the real issues at an early stage.
- Anticipate the sort of defence which is likely to be argued.
- Assess the prospects of success of the professional negligence claim.
- Tell you what is involved in pursuing your claim for professional negligence.
- Where appropriate, agree a process to encourage settlement.
In the great majority of cases, share the risk involved by operating under conditional fee arrangements "no win no fee".
Typical Professional Negligence Cases
Meade King Solicitors have acted recently in securing damages for professional negligence under conditional fee agreements "no win no fee": -
- £50k against valuers.
- £200k against solicitors.
- £160k against architects.
- £110k against accountants.
- £40k against surveyors.
Experience
He has been recommended in the independent Chambers Guide to the UK legal profession as "a bright and tenacious operator, commended for bringing a commercially realistic approach to litigation".
Other Professional Negligence Websites
Team Contacts
For further information please contact John Vasey at jrv@meadeking.co.uk or 0117 926 4121.